The accepted answer is yes, with the reason being that then we would know who the best is. But let me give you a hypothetical scenario:

There is only one title in the super middleweight division and it belongs to Andre Ward. Due to injuries he has only fought twice in the last two years - just enough for the one governing body not to strip him of his title.

Then I ask you, would anybody be that interested in watching the fights between DeGale/Jack/Dirrell/Abraham for the ranking of second/third/fourth best? And would these fighters even want to fight each other in case they lost their ranking?

Maybe because I've grown up on it, but I think I like having multiple world champions. And I actually believe it is good for the sport overall. I do still think top fighters should be more inclined to fighting one another though.

I definitely agree it can be confusing for the casual fan and it puts some people off. But I still think Billy Joe Saunders, for example, is more interesting to casual fans because he is a world champion. Even though he is not the best middleweight.

Yes, the real stars of boxing have their popularity and prestige diluted, but a sport with only five star performers is never going to have as many fans as a sport with 25 champions and lots of famous characters.

I personally prefer it to be one champion per weight.
I agree about inactivity etc but I like the days when guys ruled the divisions for 5-10 years tempting these guys to have super fights.
Now with all these world titles in one division they have to unify and then defend against each mandatory from each alphabet and this dilutes the chance of super fights which bring in the exposure that the sport had in the 70s and 80s.

There\'s some champions out there that won\'t even fight others in their division and hold titles for a few years fighting absurd title challengers that are not even in the top 10 of the other alphabet boys.

If boxing is going to reclaim its status it needs to take a leaf out of ufc book

If I study and fail so be it
But to not study is like opening your window and throwing your money out hoping the wind brings it back in

People go on about how sanctioning bodies stop great fights from happening,it really isn't the sanctioning bodies faults.

Look at 'black murderers row' as an example.If you're deemed "too good" you'll not get to the champion until he really has to.Another example of that....Wladimir Klitschko vs Tyson Fury.Fury fought a ton of mandatories for god knows how many years before Klitschko was forced to fight him.It's ultimately down to the fighters,no one else.

The increase in the number of divisions has also added to the problem. When Mayweather is fighting anyone, there is little reference made to the title on line and more about his record. As he says, they just gather dust now. This is the attitude that has damaged the sport.

Lack of clarity in relation to the rankings and controversial judging decisions and the power of promotors does not help the situation.